Tis the season

Posted on: 2013-05-31 12:22:11

Even with what seems to be near constant rain lately, I believe it is officially cold press season around these parts. A few signs that point to this may include the greenery on the trees, the ants on the sidewalk, and the fact that I have officially stored my pants for the season.

There are many ways to produce iced coffee, some good, some not so good.

I've been using my Toddy bucket for over twenty years. It's scratched up and stained to an ivory color on the inside, but it still seems to do the job. The directions are simple; 12 ounces of coarse ground coffee to seven cups of water, or for those “old school” enough to still buy their coffee by the pound, 9 cups. Let this mixture sit at room temperature over night at the minimum, or ideally for 12-16 hours, drain and enjoy.

The Filtron is essentially the same device as the Toddy, and uses a similar method.

A similar method, but different enough to mention is the Hario Mizudashi. The Mizudashi comes in a couple different sizes and uses a different ration to produce an “at strength” beverage rather than a concentrate like the Toddy or Filtron. The directions as I have found calls for 80-120 grams of coffee to one liter of water with an eight hour brew time. While I have not tried the device itself, ever time I try the ratio in either the Toddy or a presspot, it always produces a brew that I find lacking. This method reminds me of the one used at a corporate chain; 8 ounces of coffee to a gallon of water, strain and serve. Never cared for their cold press, it always had a slightly over extracted taste to it.

I may receive scorn and ridicule for this, but I still enjoy iced espresso as well, which brings me to brewing with the Aeropress over ice. I have always found the flavor of coffee brewed with the Aeropress to be somewhere between espresso and drip brew. Use the Aeropress as usual, 15 grams of coffee to 4 ounces of water with a 30 second brew time expelled into a glass of ice.

One method you will never see me doing is to pour hot brewed coffee over ice, something that was done quite often when I was younger. I was never able to get a well balanced cup that doesn’t have the bitter flavor. Oddly enough, I have a friend who is full on into the third wave, and he swears by brewing hot coffee over ice with his Hario V60. I’m nearly certain I can replicate this with my trusty Chemex, something I’ll have to try this weekend.

Speaking of this weekend, especially with iced coffee in mind, I grabbed a bag of our FTO Mexican, blended half light and half light to use in my Toddy, and a bag of the FTO Ethiopian Yergacheff to use in my Chemex. Two pounds will hopefully last the weekend.